Longer battery life on your smart phone

Q. I went to an Apple store and told them that the battery in my iPhone did not seem to last very long. The salesman said I may have too many apps running in the background and showed me how to check and turn them off. My question is, what is the reason every app I use is then running in the background? Is there some advantage to this?

A. The advantage to having an application stay open, even after you move on to another application, really depends on what applications we’re talking about and how you use your iPhone, or any smart phone for the matter.

When I fire up my Samsung Vibrant, I load up my e-mail as well as a Twitter client and some news readers. These apps stay open and pull in data based on their settings. Having them open and running lets them work the way they’re supposed to and allows me easy and quick access to them.

The downside is that, while these applications are running and collecting data, they are draining battery life.

This gets even more noticeable and problematic when you’re using your GPS for navigation or using the Wi-Fi for network connectivity.

All smart phone users have to pay attention and understand their devices to get the most use from them and the most life from their batteries. It’s a balance between functionality and frugality that will make or break you when it comes to keeping your smart phone up and running between charges.

Here are some suggestions for getting more life out of your phone

Turn off the WI-FI and the GPS when they are not in use. These two items are the biggest drain on your battery aside from actually talking on the phone.

Turn down the brightness of the display. Reducing the brightness even a little can get you a significant boost in battery life. You can always make it brighter when you need to show off the phone to family and friends.

Turn down the volume of the ringer. Chances are you can hear it just fine when it’s turned down and it’s even possible you’ll stop annoying our officemates with that ringtone that only you find amusing.

And yes, turn off applications you’re not using.

As time goes on you’ll get a better feel for what you need and you don’t need and you’ll fine tune how you use your smart phone. And this will lead to a more enjoyable and reliable experience.